Autobot Resistance

During the four million years the crew of the Ark were asleep, Alpha Trion and Elita One kept up the Autobot Resistance on Cybertron. The remaining Autobots broke into small autonomous cells, working largely independently so that if one was discovered the other groups would remain safe. Elita One managed to successfully act with such secrecy that Shockwave believed her group had died out -- the result of an excellent campaign of counter-intelligence. While Elita One personally oversaw the main group of Autobot warriors, several others were active at different and overlapping times as well. Most acted completely independently so if one cell was captured they'd be unable to divulge information on the others. At some points in the resistance, each cell wasn't sure whether or not they were the only Autobots left alive.